January 30, 2017

Corporate America wakes up

Is your average corporate CEO is any brighter or more forward-looking than the CEO idiot of the United States? Politico:

Fear is rippling across corporate boardrooms from Silicon Valley to Wall Street over the new White House’s erratic approach to policy, with damage mounting from a travel crackdown, trade protectionism and a persistent habit of singling out individual companies for stinging public criticism.

The latest wave of worry is now focused mainly on President Donald Trump’s executive order hitting immigrants, but the concerns are far broader. Companies dependent on global supply chains worry about new tariffs. Exporters hoping for greater access to Asian markets now see those hopes fading. And just about everyone is afraid of saying anything publicly that could spark presidential ire.

Was any of this a surprise?

As I've always understood it, the one indispensable element of rising to the top of the corporate world is foresight, the ability to grasp tomorrow's vicissitudes — economic, social, political — before tomorrow comes. Yet Trump spared them the effort and even relieved them of that professional necessity by broadcasting, for nearly 18 months, what he would do as president. Now they're "worried" and "fearful." Now.

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Corporate America wakes up

Is your average corporate CEO is any brighter or more forward-looking than the CEO idiot of the United States? Politico:

Fear is rippling across corporate boardrooms from Silicon Valley to Wall Street over the new White House’s erratic approach to policy, with damage mounting from a travel crackdown, trade protectionism and a persistent habit of singling out individual companies for stinging public criticism.

The latest wave of worry is now focused mainly on President Donald Trump’s executive order hitting immigrants, but the concerns are far broader. Companies dependent on global supply chains worry about new tariffs. Exporters hoping for greater access to Asian markets now see those hopes fading. And just about everyone is afraid of saying anything publicly that could spark presidential ire.

Was any of this a surprise?

As I've always understood it, the one indispensable element of rising to the top of the corporate world is foresight, the ability to grasp tomorrow's vicissitudes — economic, social, political — before tomorrow comes. Yet Trump spared them the effort and even relieved them of that professional necessity by broadcasting, for nearly 18 months, what he would do as president. Now they're "worried" and "fearful." Now.